Environmental context effects on alcohol cognitions and immediate alcohol consumption

The present experimental study sought to demonstrate the effects of environmental context on accessibility of alcohol-related cognitions and immediate alcohol consumption. Fifty-six males were randomly assigned and exposed to either a simulated bar (alcohol contextual prime) or a neutral laboratory (neutral prime). Memory accessibility was measured using implicit memory association measures and immediate drinking behavior was measured unobtrusively using a taste-rating task. Contextually primed participants reported significantly more alcohol-related memory associations to ambiguous stimuli and exhibited significantly greater alcohol consumption than controls. These results strengthen support for the influence of environmental context on retrieval of alcohol cognitions in memory and on drinking behavior. Our findings complement theoretical assertions of the critical role of alcohol cognitions in directly influencing alcohol consumption.